Amazon.co.uk Review
Certain data-communication protocols hog the spotlight, but they all have a lot in common.
Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet explains the engineering problems inherent in communicating digital information from point to point. The top-down approach mentioned in the subtitle means the book starts at the top of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) protocol stack--with the application layer--and works its way down through the other six layers until it reaches bare wire. The approach is definitely theoretical--don't look here for instructions on configuring Windows 2000 or a Cisco router--but it is relevant to reality and should help anyone who needs to understand networking as a programmer, system architect or even administration guru.
The treatment of the network layer, where routing takes place, is typical of the style overall. In discussing routing, authors Kurose and Ross explain (by way of lots of clear, definition-packed text) what routing protocols need to do: find the best route to a destination. They then present the mathematics that determine the best path, show some C code that implements those algorithms and illustrate the logic with excellent conceptual diagrams. Real-life implementations of the algorithms--including Internet Protocol (both IPv4 and IPv6) and several popular IP routing protocols--help you make the transition from pure theory to networking technologies. --David Wall
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Revised to reflect the rapid changes in the field of networking, Computer Networking provides a top-down approach to this study by beginning with applications-level protocols and then working down the protocol stack. An early emphasis is placed on application-layer paradigms and application programming interfaces to allow readers to get their "hands-dirty" with protocols and networking concepts in the context of applications they will use in the industry.
Networking today is much more (and far more interesting) than standards specifying message formats and protocol behaviors. Professors Kurose and Ross focus on describing emerging principles in a lively and engaging manner and then illustrate these principles with examples drawn from Internet architecture.
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